In an effort to build momentum to tackle the growing issue of food waste, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food & Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency signed a joint agency formal agreement under the “Winning on Reducing Food Waste” initiative. The agreement is aimed at improving coordination and communication across federal agencies attempting to better educate Americans on the impacts and importance of reducing food loss and waste.

At an event held Oct. 17 at the USDA building, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb signed the joint agency agreement. At the event, Perdue said the collaborative effort was inspired by a food waste roundtable in May at which participants encouraged the three agencies to work better together.

In the U.S., an estimated 30-40% of the food supply is wasted. This figure, based on estimates from USDA’s Economic Research Service of 31% food loss at the retail and consumer levels, corresponded to approximately 133 billion lb. and $161 billion worth of food in 2010. Wasted food is the single largest category of material placed in municipal landfills and represents nourishment that could have helped feed families in need. Additionally, the water, energy and labor used to produce wasted food could have been employed for other purposes.

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“Redirecting excess food to people, animals or energy production has tremendous economic and social benefits, and that is why the Trump Administration is working closely with businesses and consumers to prevent food loss and maximize the inherent value of food,” said Wheeler, who noted that reducing food waste could add $10 billion of economic and societal benefits.

Gottlieb explained, “By taking steps to address obstacles that food donation and recovery programs may face in giving unsold foods a second opportunity and helping food producers find ways to recondition their products so that they can be safely sold or donated, our aim is to both reduce food waste and nourish Americans in need. We are delighted to be collaborating with our federal partners on the Winning on Reducing Food Waste initiative as we continue to explore additional ways to reduce food waste and make safe, nutritional foods available to all.”

While significant actions have been taken and commitments made through public/private partnerships to date -- such as the U.S. Food Loss & Waste 2030 Champions initiative, which aims to reduce food waste 50% by 2030 -- there is still much work to be done. To date, the Food Recovery Challenge has donate 1 million tons of food, composted 1.6 million tons and overall kept 3.5 million tons from going into landfills.

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There are tremendous economic opportunities and possible cost savings for businesses and individual households that can result from reducing food waste, and while businesses are a critical component of food waste reductions, consumer education is also key to the Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative.

To view comments from the joint signing event, click here.